


This is Bullshit

by ThisNeedsMoreFics



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Hinata's parents are shit, Human Experimentation, Natsumi wants her friend back, This is a bad fic oops, and she's not taking anyone's crap, because wtf Hope's Peak, i don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27712873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisNeedsMoreFics/pseuds/ThisNeedsMoreFics
Summary: Natsumi didn't die from the attack, but her family insisted on concealing that fact until the situation was 'taken care of'. Now that Sato's dead and Natsumi's completely healed, she can return to school like normal. Except for one thing.Hajime's not there.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Kuzuryu Natsumi
Comments: 17
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

Tears spilled down her cheeks, but her teeth were grit in a nasty snarl and her eyebrows were furrowed. She wanted to scream; she'd been gone for less than a month, how the hell did this happen? Natsumi had found her way to the rooftop, coincidentally the last place she'd seen him. Possibly the last place anyone had seen him. FUCK. She tore her fingers roughly through her hair. _It's not worth getting upset over,_ her nails dug into her palms as she tried to ignore how she was shaking, _he was just some reserve loser, you were going to leave him behind anyway._  
Still... the last thing she'd done was shout at him. She hadn't been planning to apologize- as if there was anything to apologize for- but she'd thought that when she came back, she would just stick by him, pretend nothing had happened. He'd understand. If he didn't, well, he didn't deserve to be her friend anyway.  


All that had changed once she couldn't find him. Once she'd checked everywhere and found no sign of him, she started asking around. 'Asking' being more like demanding, of course. The answer she got was not one that she was fond of; nobody had seen Hajime Hinata for weeks. What made her even angrier was that nobody had even realized this until she questioned them. However, while she had been searching, another problem appeared. Pity. Some of these fuckers had the balls to PITY her. While plenty still scrambled to get out of her way, many spoke to her in soft tones, like they were telling a little girl her puppy died. Natsumi let the rage burn over her worry until her eyes stopped dripping. She swallowed dryly as her fury died down and dangerous, fragile calm settled in it's place.  


"He's fine." She mumbled, as if saying it would ensure it was true, "dumbass has probably just gone and given himself the flu." A flimsy excuse, but one that would work until she could get some real answers. With that, she turned sharply and headed down the stairs; Fuyuhiko would not be pleased if she skipped class on her first day back.

After an hour and a half of pressuring a few of the yakuza, Natsumi Kuzuryu had Hinata's address, scribbled on a scrap of shredded paper, in her hands. There was no way Fuyuhiko wasn't hearing about this, but she should have at least four hours until that happened. Enough time to get there, drag his troublesome ass out of bed or whatever, ensure he wasn't gonna fucking die, and leave. Natsumi pushed a breath of air through her lips, turning her head to look out the window instead of staring obsessively at that paper like some kind of stalker. This is no friendly visit, just... gathering intel, or some shit. She popped open the door almost as soon as the car stopped. The driver hadn't asked why she was headed here, like he would even dare, but he was looking at her curiously. After stepping out, she slammed the car door as hard as she could. He got the message.  


Hinata's house was only about a third the size of hers, but still rather large. Nothing too extravagant, it matched all the other houses on the street, other than the fact that the lawn seemed like it hadn't been mowed in ages. Not a good sign. She inhaled deeply before drawing back a fist and pounding on the door. She waited as clouds drifted over the sun.  


"Tch," she huffed when it became apparent nobody was going to answer. This was fine, she had lockpicks for a reason. The instant she opened the door, Natsumi was on edge. Nothing seemed wrong at first glance; no blood, nothing broken, but the near silence was offputting. Other than the hum of the refrigerator, nothing made a sound. Tentatively, she took a step inside. Particles of dust floated through the air, a thin coat on every surface. The only things that suggested anybody had ever lived here were the spare shoes by the door, faint marks left in the carpet and a jacket discarded on the couch. "Hinata!" She snapped out of it and called out; it was bad enough she had broken in, if Hajime was here, she didn't want to give him a heart attack. She started up the stairs, anxiety growing. She really, really hoped Hajime was just a deep sleeper.  


In the upstairs hallway, it was hard to hear any sound other than her own heartbeat. She edged open the first door; Master bedroom, most likely his parents', yet for some reason, it was the most neglected of them all. Not a single photo, piece of clothing, or book was in sight; it was like a page from a furniture catalog had come to life, then died before anybody even had the chance to touch it. The dust was thicker in here, cobwebs formed between the intricate designs on the headboard. The curtains were open just a sliver, but the furniture touched by the light that snuck in had been bleached by the sun. This room was completely unlived in. That revelation kicked up another flurry of emotions and thoughts, the most important of them all being if Hajime lived here alone, anything could have happened to him without anyone noticing. She stomped that down for later and continued on.  


This door had been left open, Natsumi's fingertips pushed it open gently. The feeling in her chest tightened; another bedroom, this one undoubtedly his. It was probably the messiest area in the entire house, but still awfully tidy. His bed lay in disarray, a drawer stuck open, a tie laid out on his desk like he'd just gotten up and gone to school, but this room was just as desolate as any of the others. 

Whatever happened to Hajime Hinata, he had never come home.


	2. Chapter 2

In the car, on the ride back home, Natsumi had only one thought in her mind; Fuck, that hadn't helped at all. She'd spent an hour or so searching through the house for anything that might hold a clue, but found nothing of use. Hajime Hinata had just dropped off the face of the earth. So, what now? She wasn't about to just call the police, but enlisting the assistance of the yakuza more than necessary would just get messy, especially if one of them got the notion she CARED about the boy. Ugh.  
... That was already a possibility though, wasn't it? If somebody found out a Kuzuryu was spending their free time hanging around some random kid, one she now knew had nobody else to look out for him, that would paint a pretty big target on his back.  
"Shit," she pressed her hands to her face, muttering, "I really fucked this one up, didn't I?" The driver began to look at her strangely again. She fled the vehicle as soon as they parked, bolting to her room.  
Alright, she'd wasted an hour and a half at Hajime's place. She now knew for sure that this whole situation was fishy as hell, with the leading theory being that her friend had been kidnapped by a rival of the Kuzuryu Clan. Not good. Natsumi bit at her lip; should she ask her brother for help..? No, he'd be pissed, but then he'd baby his poor little sister for getting her friend in trouble. She straightened up, face forming into a glare; she could handle this by herself. How, she wasn't exactly sure yet, but she would, because a friendship had somehow formed between this painfully average loner and the Ultimate Yakuza's sister, whether they liked it or not. 

Natsumi laid a notebook out on her desk, gripping the few inches of a pencil in her hand. She wasn't the kind of person who needed or particularly liked to write things down, but it might come in handy to be organized in a situation like this. She should probably just start by writing what she thought, right? 

\- Hajime has been missing for at least three weeks  
\- Contact Hajime's parents ??  
\- Anything you would need on a trip was still there  
\- Somebody could be using him to get to me

She stared at it once her pencil left the paper. This was fucking _stupid._ How the hell did anyone think this was helpful? She was reading over the words again when her eyes stopped, as if realizing something before she did. She looked at the word harder. _Somebody._ Somebody could mean anybody, not just enemies to the clan. Natsumi had made enemies outside clan business, as proved by Sato. Even though she couldn't really see Hajime upsetting someone that much, that didn't mean he never had. Also, as proven by his house and the fact that he was attending Hope's Peak, the Hinata family had to have some bit of wealth, which is always a motive. After adding these new ideas to the list, Natsumi began to feel a bit better. None of them were _good,_ but at least not all of them meant it was her fault. 

There's another thought; _Sato._ That bitch had proven herself deranged enough to go after Natsumi, so there was no question she'd be willing to attack Hajime. The clan killed her two days after the attack; a ridiculously short time period for planning and pulling off two murders, but not completely impossible, although the reasoning for her to go after Hajime was a bit lacking. Natsumi had been making threats, but Hajime was just some guy she hung around with. Sure, he'd stopped them from getting physical, but Sato had tried to kill because she wanted to protect Koizumi, not because they'd had an argument. Natsumi froze. _Koizumi._ She'd never been violent before, but the Kuzuryu clan had killed Sato for attacking Natsumi. Even Koizumi wasn't so dumb she couldn't figure that out. She'd probably known she'd be killed too if she went after a clan member, so she'd gone for the next best thing. Natsumi's heart beat faster, blood roaring in her ears. It made sense, and it let her anger focus on a single target; it took everything in her to not call a hit on the other girl right then. Revenge was the kind of shit Natsumi understood, not the 'talk it out' crap, but she had to be certain about this. Hajime wouldn't want sobeody innocent to die because of him. 

... Was she worrying about his feelings? Ugh, gross. 

  
  


_Meet me at lunch, alone. Reserve music room. We need to talk._ Guilt flared up in Koizumi's gut, she stood frozen, re-reading the note that a frightened reserve course student had shoved into her hands. She could tell instantly who this was from.  
"What's that, a love letter?" Hiyoko's tone wasn't mocking or insulting like it was with everybody else, but genuinely curious with a finger on her chin as she stared at the paper Mahiru held.  
"Oh, it's nothing," she crushed the note in her hand, "just some stupid prank." But it wasn't.  
"We should find who did it and punish them! By forcing them to stare at Mikan's ugly, pig barf face!"  
"A-AHHH! I'M SORRY FOR BEING UGLY PIG BARF!" Mikan shreiked from their left. Mahiru forced a smile as she felt the colour returning to her face. She didn't have to worry about Natsumi's wrath, at least for a little while. 

  
  


Natsumi was aware that her attention was straying from the lesson, but she couldn't help but think that maybe she should've worded that note a little friendlier. What if Koizumi didn't show up? Or she showed it to her classmates? Fuyuhiko would demand answers, and while she was fairly confident she could bullshit her way through it, she would rather avoid the experience. Natsumi glared. If Mahiru knew what was good for her, she'd come.  
"Kuzuryu?" Her teacher stood beside her, a hand on her shoulder. _Goddamnit, enough with the fucking pity!_ Natsumi huffed, shrugging her teacher off. Sensing that was as good an answer they were going to get, the teacher returned to the front of the room, but Natsumi could still feel the stares on her back. 

  
  


Hajime could feel the stares on his back. It was pretty much the only thing he felt at the moment, other than burning, agonizing pain all along his body. Their words rushed by him meaninglessly, but they weren't meant for him anyway. Still, the sound was deafeningly loud, but he couldn't cover his ears or tell them to keep it down; he could hardly move at all. At least he could close his eyes. For the time being, at least, this body was still his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, feeling a lot of love and hate for this chapter.
> 
> I hope the POV switches weren't too confusing.
> 
> I've been thinking about making chapters longer, but I just can't seem to do it-  
> At least that means more frequent updates, right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terrible writing go brrrrr

Technically, the music room should still be counted as a crime scene, but since nobody had actually died, Hope's Peak had convinced the cops to leave early. Obviously, none of the students had known that Natsumi was alive at that point, but somebody at Hope's Peak must have, or else this room wouldn't be open, and she wouldn't be stepping inside to face the girl who may very well be out for her blood. Normally, Mahiru wouldn't be doing this, but her guilt outweighed her logic in this scenario. She _had_ helped hide the attempted murder of the other girl, but that still wouldn't have been enough to make her do something as suicidal as meeting her alone. It was Natsumi's eyes. When the blonde girl had come to her brother after their classes, she'd looked as angry as always, but her eyes had been ever so slightly red and puffy around the edges. She might not have noticed if Fuyuhiko hadn't jumped to his feet like he had, looking ready to murder but not forcing her to explain. That moment was the sole reason she was standing in the dark room, unarmed and by herself like an idiot. 

"Natsumi?" Mahiru's voice shook, her hands on her camera. Maybe she didn't show? As much as she hated to think about it, Mahiru would rather be murdered by Natsumi than one of her hit men. She stepped back, preparing to leave, when she bashed into someone. She whirled around, alarmed, only to find Natsumi knocked to the ground, seething with rage. 

Natsumi moved to stand, staring at the other girl. It was REALLY hard not to kill her right now, but she resisted the urge, finding satisfaction in slapping the redhead's outstretched hand instead. Koizumi looked nervous, of course, she was standing in front of one of the most powerful girls in the entire school. Natsumi supressed the smirk she felt crawling up her face, crossing her arms and focusing on the reason she was here. Koizumi broke eye contact, making the other realize she'd been staring for a while now. "I'm gonna guess you know why you're here, or were you really that dependent on that hopeless bitch?" The words left Natsumi's throat without a thought. Koizumi stiffened; the death of her friend was starting to heal, but it still hurt. "She brought it on herself, y'know," she continued, eyeing the silent girl in front of her, "fighting me is just fucking idiotic." 

"Do you _need_ something, or are you just here to taunt me?" Koizumi snapped, gaze rising from the floor. 

Natsumi's eyes narrowed; Koizumi was arguing with her, suggesting the loss of her friend had indeed influenced her feelings toward Natsumi, though she didn't appear especially violent at the moment. "That extends to my..." Natsumi's lips twitched as she navigated around the word 'friends', "allies, as well." 

Mahiru couldn't hide the surprise on her face; Natsumi cared about someone... other than her brother? That wasn't common, and for Natsumi to bring it up... did she think something was going to happen?

"Kuzuryu, I don't know what you're talking about." That was the wrong thing to say. Natsumi's patience snapped. 

"What did you do to Hinata?" She launched forward, shoving the red haired girl into the wall with a painful-sounding thud.

"...What?" The other girl coughed, fear mingling with confusion in her eyes.

"You think I don't know how this shit works? You get pissed that my family took out your friend, so you go after mine!" Natsumi's eyes were alight with rage. She didn't expect to find Hajime- she'd already concluded what had happened- she was just angry. She wanted to follow through with her threats. She wanted to kill the girl in front of her.

"I... didn't." A new emotion began to show itself on Mahiru's face; worry. There was only one Hinata she'd heard of; a kid named Hajime that Sato mentioned. She hadn't done anything to him, she barely even knew the guy existed, but she couldn't speak for Sato. There had been enough time between Sato's fight with Natsumi and her death for her to kill someone, but there was no reason for her to do that, right? From Sato's own words, Hajime Hinata was just some guy who happened to be someone Natsumi found acceptable, that was no reason to kill. Mahiru felt a pit growing in the bottom of her stomach; a few threats hadn't been that good of a reason either.

Natsumi was speechless; that was all Koizumi had to say in her defense? She almost laughed, but the girl muttered something under her breath that caught Natsumi's attention. 

"What was that?" 

"Sato wouldn't," Mahiru straightened, taking a step away from the wall and beginning to sound more certain, "I- I wouldn't! Are you sure this 'friend' didn't just get tired of your behavior?" Abort, abort- you were supposed to convince her you didn't do it, not make the situation worse. That was too far! 

"The fuck did you say to me you bastard?!" Natsumi roared, hands balled into fists, ready to swing. "I checked his house, I talked to my classmates- he's been gone for weeks, and you're going to tell me you have _nothing_ to do with this?" 

_Talked to classmates. Checked his house. Gone for weeks._ Natsumi's words sunk in slowly. Despite how horrible the girl in front of her could be, concern took over. 

"Oh my god, Kuzuryu... that's awful," her hand moved over her mouth. No wonder Natsumi had gotten violent so quickly, her friend was missing. _And she thinks I'm responsible._ A cold rush of fear hit Mahiru, but she countered it quickly. _She couldn't be deadset on that option, or else I would bleeding out by now._ "I swear, I didn't know anything about this," she couldn't help but raise her hands in a surrendering motion as her voice shook, trying to think of any points she could make other than 'I didn't'. "What if I help you?" Kuzuryu did her best not to grimace, Koizumi was following the same pattern everybody did, trying to find something to trade for her life. "F-Find your friend, you know. I know you've already checked everywhere, but, um..." _This is probably just making me seem more suspicious,_ Mahiru winced, eyeing the exit. It didn't look like Natsumi had brought a weapon, but it would be better not to take that chance.

"...Fine." Kuzuryu slowly dropped her stance, but held her glare and kept her hands in fists at her sides.

"What?"

"Listen, I need help that doesn't involve criminal activity, and you're just about as goody-two-shoes as it gets." Natsumi turned and walked toward the hall, reaching the door before looking back and narrowing her eyes. "Well? Are you coming?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Kuzuryu-san! Where are we going? School isn't over yet!"

"Just tell 'em you're working on some photography bullshit, they'd always let you leave for your talent," Natsumi didn't even bother to look back at Mahiru as she spoke, dismissively waving her hand, distressing Mahiru further.

"Just... at least let me tell my class rep, okay?" Mahiru pleaded.

Natsumi sighed. "Fine, I should probably tell my brother I'm going as well. Don't want him to get blood on his hands for no reason." Mahiru smiled nervously at Natsumi, obviously disturbed as she led them to her friends. A picnic table in the courtyard, with nearby trees that rustled in the breeze and provided shade on hotter days, the 77th class of Hope's Peak chattered chaotically as usual.

"Mahiru, you're back! But why are you with the dead girl?" A girl in an orange kimono latched onto Koizumi immediately, like a paperclip to a magnet. Natsumi suppressed a growl, turning away from the conversation and catching her brother's eye. He raised a brow at her, an unspoken question. _Great. He will have heard about my trip to Hajime's by now, so seeing me with Koizumi will definitely tip him off._ She looked back, and suddenly there was another. This girl had short, pink hair and looked intently at Koizumi as she spoke. "Hiyoko, would you mind if I had a private conversation with Chiaki and Kuzuryuu-san?"

The girl pouted, but left after looking between Natsumi and Mahiru for a minute, "You better not hurt her, you zombie!" Natsumi grit her teeth.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" the pink-haired girl asked in a soft voice.

"Ah, I was wondering if I could leave early... I have to help Kuzuryu-san with something." Good. Vague enough to not warrant any questions, unless this chick was particularly nosy.

She was. "Why do you have to leave to help her?" Just a hint of concern crept around her face, although her main emotion seemed to be curiosity.

"Oh, I'm helping her... find..." Mahiru trailed off, unsure of how much she was supposed to say.

"It's none of your fucking business, bitch! Can we leave now?!" Natsumi snapped, taking on a more intimidating stance.

Nanami's eyes narrowed slightly. "No, please tell me where you're going." Her voice was firm, but still kind as she tugged on her backpack straps. Natsumi glanced at her brother again. Crap, he was looking this way, a warning in his eyes. She clenched her fists at her sides and ground her teeth before looking back to the girl.

_"Fine,_ just as long as my brother stays out of this!" She hissed, leaning forward so the girl could hear her better. She took a breath again, but it didn't help much. "Hajime Hinata's gone. I- _we_ are going to find him." 

"Hunh?" Her eyes went wide, a hand flying up to her heart, her mouth in a perfect 'O'. Why is she so shocked? It's a reserve course student's disappearance, but she looks like we told her one of her classmates died. "What do you mean, he's gone?" She addressed Natsumi nervously, gaze now fixed on the blonde.

"I-" Natsumi groaned exasperatedly, was she going to have to explain this again? "Nobody's seen him for weeks. I checked his house, too, but I was thinking a photographer's eye for detail could be useful."

"So that's why he stopped showing up..." Nanami looked like she was going to cry or vomit. 

"What?" Natsumi swallowed dryly, painting a glare on her face to mask her confusion.

"Chiaki, did you know Hinata?" Mahiru rested a hand on Nanami's shoulder.

"Mmhmm. We used to play games at the fountain after school..." She shook her head. "He said he'd see me the next day, but I never saw him again."

_So, this bitch knew Hinata, huh?_ Natsumi crossed her arms and looked her up and down. Judging from what she said, she was the last person to see him, and that might be useful information. Still, she'd just met her, how could she trust anything the girl had to say? She might even be the one responsible.

"Do you want to help us?" _What? Fuck, Mahiru-_ But before Natsumi could object, Nanami nodded. Natsumi groaned quietly, pinching the bridge of her nose; now she had two idiots to drag around.   


"Well, here it is." Natsumi swung the door open, glad that she'd left it unlocked the other day; picking a lock might make these cowards nervous. It seemed the other girls felt the same way she had when she first arrived, moving slowly as they looked around the deserted house. Nothing had changed since she last saw it. She hung back, watching as the other girls began their investigations, but keeping her eye mostly on Nanami. She'd only just met this girl, and how could they know if she really was friends with Hinata? He'd never talked about her before. He would've, right? Did he talk to Nanami about her? Nanami turned, seeing Natsumi's stare and giving a kind smile. Natsumi scrunched up her nose, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

As she continued to follow the girls throughout the house, doing minimal searching of her own, she wondered about Hinata. Was it even reasonable to think he might be alive at this point? She'd been gone for a while, and if not even the teachers had taken note of his disappearance, there was quite a large period of time he could've vanished in. Her eyes drifted once more to Nanami. If what the girl said was true, then she might be able to give them a more exact timeline... No, we don't need her help! She shouldn't even be here, that was just fuckin' Mahiru Koizumi's fault. Sure, Koizumi trusted Nanami, but she'd also trusted Sato, even after she'd attempted murder. Natsumi huffed; she shouldn't be so trusting with either of them.

"Hey, Kuzuryu-san!" Koizumi called, Natsumi swung her head to look. She was holding a book, a black one with the Hope's Peak Academy symbol on the front.

"What is that..?" Natsumi murmured, reaching Koizumi and grabbing the book in a few strides. As she opened to the first page, Nanami arrived at her side, peering into the book as well.

"The Hope Cultivation Plan?" Nanami leaned in closer and ran her finger over the words as she read them aloud, personal space seemingly forgotten. "What is this?"

"Well, if it was given to a student, it has to be some kind of school program, right?" Koizumi shut an eye and raised a hand as she thought. They flicked forward a page, hungry for answers.

"Hmm... it does seem like a sign up sheet, but there's a lot of words I don't understand on it." Nanami said, "Hinata-kun must be really smart if he understood all this." Natsumi felt tempted to shove the other girl away, but simply tightened her grip on the papers. If Nanami understood _any_ of this, they needed her help. Natsumi bared her teeth at that thought.

"Can we see the next page? That might have something we can understand..." Koizumi's face reflected her uneasy tone. Paper rustled deafeningly in the silence as they continued reading. "Oh!" Suddenly, Koizumi's hand shot out, pointing to one word on the page. "I've heard this word before! Mikan brought it up while she was rambling about medicines!"

"Hmm, this one too." Nanami tapped on a different spot, "a lot of these look like they could be medical terms..."

Natsumi groaned loudly, knowing what they were thinking; they'd need the Ultimate Nurse to understand this medical bullshit.

  


Since school had ended by the time they left Hinata's house, they had to wait until the next day to get answers, which meant another night of dodging her brother so she could lay in bed worrying for hours. Despite having hardly slept, she was awake early that morning. Quickly raking a comb through her hair, throwing on her uniform and cramming her shoes onto her feet and she was dashing down the stairs. She'd begrudgingly agreed to let Koizumi hold on to the book, since she was least likely to lose it or have it stolen by a prying sibling. As soon as her feet landed in the kitchen, a voice sounded from behind her.

"Natsumi."

"Peko..." Natsumi winced. Her brother's 'tool', had undoubtedly been waiting for her. "I-I know that Fuyuhiko really wants to talk, but I can't. Not yet; but I will tonight! I promise!" She fixed Peko with her best puppy-dog eyes.

Peko tried to hide the smallest upward twitch in the corner of her mouth, giving Natsumi a single nod. "Your breakfast has already been prepared; remember to eat before you leave." Peko turned away, more likely going to Fuyuhiko's room than her own. So, she had until that night to come up with a convincing lie. Great. Breakfast went by quickly enough, and soon she was stepping out of her car onto school grounds. While it was still too early for classes, students milled about, all talking to friends except for a certain girl not far from the gate. _Looks like Koizumi and I had the same idea._

She walked over and leaned on the wall next to Mahiru, standing in comfortable silence with her while they watched the students trickle in.

"I'm sorry," Mahiru suddenly blurted.

Natsumi looked at her blankly. "Huh?"

"I helped Sato," Koizumi looked at Natsumi like the answer should be obvious, "she attacked you, I helped her get away with it."

There were many things Natsumi wanted to say to that, most of which were along the lines of 'you fucking bastard' or 'she almost killed me, bitch', but there was also an 'I'm sorry too' in the mix. She settled on saying nothing, looking at the ground instead.

"Hey hey," a tired voice greeted them as a girl approached.

"Chiaki! It's rare to see you up this early," Mahiru lit up, offering a bright smile to her classmate. 

"Mmm, if I'm being honest, I'm really curious about what the Hope Cultivation Plan is." She yawned, breaking the determined look on her face and rubbing her eye. Natsumi rolled her eyes and looked away, immediately growing impatient. When was that Tsumiki bitch going to show up?

After listening to the other two blabbering for twenty minutes, Natsumi had enough. "I'm going to get a drink." She announced, only managing a few steps forward before someone crashed into her.

"Uwaaah! I'M SO SORRY!" A voice screeched from on top of her.

"Oh, Mikan- Let us help you!" Koizumi shouted, rushing over.

"Get off of me, dumbass!" Natsumi snarled. The mess of limbs on the floor was quickly disentangled by Nanami and Koizumi, who then helped the two girls to their feet.

"Sorry about that, Kuzuryu-san," Mahiru apologized. Natsumi huffed, eyeing the new girl. "This is Mikan Tsumiki, the Ultimate Nurse!"

The girl who had just been introduced winced as Natsumi's judgemental gaze raked over her. "Are you sure? Someone this pathetic doesn't seem like an Ultimate at all."

Mahiru shot her a stern glance, "Yes, and you better be kind to her if you expect her help!"

"Ah- My he-he-help? Oh, no! Di-Di-Di-Did I injure you?! I'm so sorry!" Tears welled up in Tsumiki's eyes.

"No, no, no! We just need you to read something," Mahiru opened her bag, producing the strange papers they'd found the other day.

"R-Read something..? Ah, okay, I can do that," Tsumiki took it gently, slowly opening it and scanning the pages. 

Slowly, the nurse's face went pale as she read on. "I- ah, I, um, I-I-I-!" She stuttered, her wide eyes unable to look away from the words in front of her.

"Are you okay, Mikan?" Nanami asked gently, moving closer.

"I-I, uhm, I-I-It's just-!" She stopped, pressing her lips together before throwing her arms over her face and suddenly shreiking, "I-Is this even legal?!"

"...Huh?" Mahiru managed simply.

"What do you mean?" Natsumi's voice was cold, emotionless except for a slight tremor near the end. 

"Ah, um, well, f-for starters, you're sup-p-p-po-posed to get a parent involved before you even begin con-con-considering options like this, but there's no mention of a legal guardian in here anywhere..." Mikan tugged at a bandage, biting her lip before continuing, "There's al-also- it's too- uh, um... i-it's rather vauge an-a-and they keep avoiding what the operation actually is... i-if I can't tell what this means, there's no way the patient could either." The girl with choppy hair shrunk down, clutching her hands together.

"Gh- ah- What? Why would they DO that?!" Mahiru suddenly shouted, disbelieving.

"The only reason I can think," Nanami looked almost like she was going to be sick, "is that they didn't want him to understand."

"B-But that doesn't make any sense! The logo on the front; it's Hope's Peak Academy's, right?" Koizumi's distress was evident. Her words sent another shock through the group.

Natsumi felt her breath quicken, the burning anger she'd been so good at supressing recently flaring up and scorching her. _What the fuck did they do?!_ Immediately, Natsumi whirled around, barely hearing the whimper of the purple-haired girl worrying about having upset her as she pushed her way through a group of students.

She needed her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be switching between first and last names too much- Sorry about that.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a little conflicted about posting this because there are some parts I adore and then others I completely despise, but I need more Natsumi content- Her dynamic with Hajime was wonderful I am soft.
> 
> Anyway, Natsumi is pissed and not putting up with anyone's bullshit.
> 
> "I've only known Hajime for a week, but if anything happens to him I will kill you all." - Natsumi, probably


End file.
